Hallow Home for Orphans
by Lillybe-Forest
Summary: At the age of thirteen Kurogane's parents died, without anyone to look afer him he got sent to an orphange. There he met two weird blond boys and found himself pulled into the strange happens within. AU! later KuroxFai, angst, fluff, violence, mystery.
1. Part One

Hallow Home for Orphans – part one.

Warnings: AU!, angst, fluff, romance, mystery, violence (later on in the story)

Summary: At the age of thirteen Kurogane's life changed when his parents died. Without anyone to take care of him there was no choice but to send him to an orphanage, Hallow Home for Orphans, there he met a seemingly anti-social roommate and two weird blonde boys. However that was the least of his problems, in the orphanage something strange was going on and, like it or not, Kurogane got himself pulled right into the centre of it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or any of the characters involved, they belong to the masterful CLAMP. They also own other characters that are seen and mentioned in the course of this fanfic.

A/N: Please note the fact that this is AU, it is not set in our world so the way the orphanage works it not representative of any country that may exist in ours, just wanted to get that out of the way before people tell me how wrong it is, most of it is purposefully changed. This is my first chaptered AU TRC fanfic and I am very proud of how it is going so far. It has taken me a week to get this far in it and it is more like how I actually write my novels than fanfics, more time and effort has been put into this but it is very fun to write.

This has been published on LJ KuroxFai community under the name Lillybe_Shadow.

I would very much like you to read and comment, please enjoy.

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><p>At the age of thirteen Suwa Kurogane was wrenched away from his parents by a burglary gone awry. They returned home early one day to find three thugs ransacking the house, his father quickly shoved him and his mother into a coat closet then approached the thieves to stop them, which is where things went wrong. In their shock he managed to take out two of them however the third threw a knife at him and it hit. Kurogane will always remember how he stared through the crack in the door watching in horror as his father's body tumbled to the ground, a knife sticking out of his chest. Next to him his mother had broken out into sobs, her body shaking uncontrollably.<p>

The remaining thief ran out of the building, leaving his companions behind.

Kurogane crawled out of the closet towards his father's body. There was blood everywhere, at least that is what it seemed like. He remembered laying himself across his father trying to hear for a heartbeat or breathing. There wasn't one. Then it went blurry, people screaming, talking in hushed voices, offering fake words of comfort. Eventually he was pulled off his father.

In what seemed like no time at all he was sat next to his mother who was unconscious in a hospital bed. The doctors said she was dying from a broken heart but was holding on for him. Every time she opened her eyes she looked to be in such pain that it made Kurogane's body heat up in fury. Eventually she caught some kind of virus from her body's low immune system and past away in the night, holding tightly onto his hand.

At this point Kurogane screamed out in grief, tears of anger and sadness running down his face. Nurses came running to him, wielding needles which pierced into his flesh sending him to sleep.

There was no one to take him in. It would be three years until he could live by himself and without any relatives there was no other choice but to be sent to an orphanage.

That was how he came to stand in front of an old building, looking very much like a castle with grey stones and what could only be described as turrets, sticking out of the roof in a way which suggested they were just tacked on as an afterthought. The gates around the perimeter were a dirty silver and rusty in some places but were topped with sharp points.

Kurogane looked at the grim place he was to now live in with disgust, everything about it from the missing tiles on the roof to the dismal garden, with its brown grass and dead trees echoed his thoughts.

_His life was over._

It was not enough that his parents were dead but on top of that he head stay in _this_ dire place until he turned sixteen.

The social worker next to him took his hand, like he was a _child_, and practically dragged him up the broken cobble path. Outside the building was a wonky sign that said _'Hallow Home for Orphans'_, in a dirty yellow. The social worker pressed a doorbell then rapped on the wooden door which caused flakes of yellow paint to fall off and flutter to the floor.

After a minute or two the door was opened by a harassed looking woman with grey hair tied up in a style not too dissimilar to a birds nest. She was tall and gaunt, looking half-starved with her clothes hanging limply off her body.

"Oh hello," she said her voice sounding weary, "yes we were expecting you. Well, come in, come in." She took a step back then looked down at Kurogane and gave a small smile, probably in the hopes to make him feel secure or something similar.

They stepped into a large entrance hall with a staircase to one side of it leading to a landing with a banister around the edge of it; it looked like there was a long narrow dark corridor behind it.

The harassed looking woman turned around to see what he was staring at, a look of fear taking over her face when she saw nothing behind them she sighed and smiled at him again, a little weaker this time.

"Up there are the bedrooms," she explained, "on the left are the girl's room and boys on the right, two to a room." Kurogane nodded in acknowledgement when she paused and looked at him expectantly. "I will show you to the room you will sleep in later but first let's get you all signed it."

She started walking towards the hallway that leads off from the entrance hall. The social worker tugged on his hand to get him to follow.

Kurogane glanced up at the landing once more to find two blonde boys there looking down at him, they must have only been a few years younger than himself with giant blue eyes that watched him closely. One of them was knelt on the floor, pushed up to the banister one hand gripping the wood tightly and the other holding the second boys hand, who stood close to him. The boy against the banister waved at Kurogane before being pulled back harshly by the one whose hand he held. Eyes bore into his, glaring at him in hatred.

_Great_, Kurogane thought, _I just came here and I'm already hated_. It was just his luck.

With a last look at the boys, to see them whispering to each other he allowed the social worker to pull him along.

For what seemed like hours Kurogane sat in an uncomfortable chair listening to the two women chatter non-stop to each other every now and then writing on an indefinable piece of paper. He heard the words "education" and "from another town" which was no doubt about him having to switch schools. He had to start his _whole_ life over again it seemed, there hadn't been a closer orphanage so he was taken away from anything familiar to come here.

Finally the harassed woman stood up, went around her desk to crouch in front of her seat. She told him her name, which is promptly ignored, then offered him her condolences, the same old rubbish that everyone had been spouting since his father got murdered. He was lead out of the room, the two women in front of him this time, leaving him to trail behind.

They stopped at the door where the social worker turned, gave him a hug and a 'good luck' before passing a bag of his things to the harassed woman. She left with a ringing 'bang'.

"Well then," the woman said, "let's get you settled Youou."

"It's Kurogane," he said glumly.

"Excuse me?" she asked kindly.

"My name is Kurogane _not_ Youou."

The woman paused, looking at him dubiously for a few seconds. "Of course, dear," she said eventually in an _extremely_ patronising voice.

She led him up the flight of stairs, which were more than slightly steep. "The older children are placed closest to the stairs so when they come in from their later curfew they won't disturb the younger ones." They walked a small way into the corridor that could be seen from below, it was hard to see how far back it went the lighting was so poor. "Each room has an en-suite bathroom which the occupants share, you're in three."

They stopped in front of a wooden door with the painted number '3' on it in bright yellow, on the right hand side. "Your roommate is in the same year as you, he is only a month older than you, I've already asked him to show you around so there is no need to be nervous." She opened the door which swung inward with a creak.

Inside the room was a tad brighter, there was at least a small window with the curtains drawn back, unfortunately that meant that the horrid yellow colour the walls were painted could be seen. Kurogane guessed that it was supposed to make the place seem warm and welcoming however it just made him want punch the wall in annoyance, which was actually a good idea for later. There were two wooden beds with cream bedspreads, two desks, wardrobes and side tables.

At one of the desks sat a tall boy with short black hair who had turned with a disinterested look on his face towards them, dark eyes boring into them. He was clad in what looked like a school uniform, in black trousers and blazer with a white shirt.

"_Kurogane_ this is Himura Rikuo he will be your roommate," the woman said, "and this is Suwa _Kurogane_, I hope that you two will get along." She smiled at them, still looking a bit harassed. "Now," her voice turned strict as she looked at Kurogane, "there are a few rules to follow. First, you can bring friends here however you are not have any kinds of 'intimate' relations. All meals are served in the dining hall downstairs, lasting for an hour and a half each; Rikuo will show you the way. You are expected to go to school. There is to be no bullying of any sort, similarly violence will not be tolerated. Curfew is at ten o'clock for the older students." A small beeping emanated from her watch, she looked down at it with a frown. "If you have any questions then ask Rikuo or a member of the staff. I have to leave now." With that she placed his bag on the floor and left in a hurry, the door squeaking after her.

The boy, Himura, pointed towards the bed closest to the window. "That one's yours," he said, then turned away from Kurogane and continued looking at whatever it was on his desk.

Sighing Kurogane picked up his bag and trudged over to the bed. He threw it onto the floor then sat down on the side of the bed facing the window. It was a bleak, grey day; the sky looking like it was about to rain at any second, it was weird how the weather could emulate his mood.

What must have been half an hour later the other boy stood up and headed to the door.

"It will be dinner in a soon, I'll show you to the dining hall."

Reluctantly he stood up and followed Himura out of the room.

In the hallway Kurogane came face to face with the two blonde boys he had seen before. They were walking down the corridor but stopped when they heard the door open. Now two sets of magnificent blue eyes were staring at him intently. They were not wearing a uniform like Himura, instead in blue trousers and white tops, looking identical. Nearly. One of the boys was scowling and the other was wearing a stupid fake smile, _idiot_ anyone with eyes could tell that he didn't mean it. The scowling one tugged on what must have been his brother's hand, trying to get them moving, the boy wouldn't move.

"Hello," he said instead, "what's your name?"

"Kurogane," he answered automatically, surprised at himself usually he didn't like introductions, "who the hell are you?"

"Motosuwa Fai," the scowling one said motioning to himself and then his twin, "and Yuui."

The one indicated as Yuui nodded and beamed up at Kurogane. "It's not too bad here Kuro-pu."

"It's _Kurogane_."

Suddenly Yuui was violently tugged by Fai and, stumbling, was pulled down the corridor effectively ending the brief, not-quite conversation. When they reached the landing Kurogane saw them stop then huddle close together talking, it looked like a very heated argument from where he was standing. In the end it seemed to end with a violent hand gesture and Fai dragging the other down the stairs.

"You shouldn't get involved with them," Himura said, catching Kurogane off guard.

Kurogane looked over at the boy who was facing forward looking at where the twins had previously been. There was a part of him which wanted to ask _why_ the boy said that however most of him didn't care about strange blonde boys, rationalising that there was no point in knowing as he didn't intend go near them anyway.

With that thought Kurogane grunted at the boy who turned his head to look at him then shrugged and walked forward, leading him towards the dining hall.

Hallow Home for Orphans was akin to a large maze, from the outside one would never guess at how expansive it was inside, doors and corridors all merged into one, the front part of the building was all offices and what looked like disused classrooms. It was not clear what most of the doors lead to though, as only some had windows in them. Near what must be the back of the building were two large ornate doors, the sound of chattering could be heard, this must have been the dining room.

Himura pushed open one door and walked through, holding it open for Kurogane to enter as well. Inside there were a dozen plastic folding tables with chairs set around them. Children from the ages of six until fifteen sat around tables talking. Kurogane guessed that there must have been about twenty people in the room, there was an excess of tables so he assumed some of the children weren't present. Along one side of the room was a buffet set up, he could smell some truly vile odours coming from that direction.

Unfortunately he was led towards it; he picked up a tray and took the safest route, a bowl full of red soup from the buffet and a glass which he filled with water.

Himura walked over to one of the tables where a few others boys were sat, not having any other choice Kurogane went with him.

At the table sat a strange dark haired boy who seemed to be annoying a black haired boy with glasses; however he was not speaking very much so Kurogane wasn't entirely sure about why the boy was getting so irate. Even from a distance they were able to be heard as the bespectacled one was yelling loudly, something about wanting the other to leave.

Himura sat down opposite them, nodding to the quieter one then without saying a word just ate his food. They must have been at most ten years old, which made it very odd that Himura would sit with them, looking around there were children closer to their own age sitting on various tables. Kurogane joined them making sure to keep a distance from the three other boys and started to eat his food, with great distaste.

The loud boy with glasses looked at him in question, which Kurogane made sure to ignore. "Ummm..." the boy said.

Himura looked at him and sighed in annoyance. "This is my new roommate, Suwa Kurogane."

"Oh," the glasses boy said, his eyes turning sad as he gazed upon Kurogane. "Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Watanuki Kimihiro, and I live here too." He nudged the boy besides him who completely ignored the action, shooting a glare at the boy he scowled in annoyance. "This is Doumeki Shizuka; he just follows me here so he can get free food!"

Kurogane nodded to them and looked back down at his food. After a few awkward minutes of silence the glasses boy, Watanuki, began yelling again.

It wasn't enough that his parents died and he had to be put in an orphanage, no, he also had to put up with _this_ too. Yelling and chattering during meals. Just great.

Suddenly the noise level died down. Looking up Kurogane saw the two blondes he had seen come down earlier enter the dining hall. What had they been doing? They had gone down the stairs before him; he had assumed that they were headed to the dining hall so where had they really gone to? Not that he cared what they did.

All eyes seemed to be focused on the twins as they moved across the hall, gathered their food and sat on a table furthest away from anyone else. This was apparently a sign for people to regain some of their volume, as they went back to conversing amongst themselves.

It was interesting to watch as the twins sat very close together, one of them focused on their food but glancing up every now and then to swipe his eyes over the hall whilst the others was constantly watching the people eating. At one point Kurogane's eyes met the latter boys, the blonde smiled over at him, a strange light entering his eyes. After no more than two seconds of eye contact the other twin looked up, scowling at Kurogane then barked something out which made the other blonde blush and turn to stare at him food.

Throughout the rest of the meal Kurogane could feel a burning gaze on him, though he did his best to ignore it.

After Himura finished his food he stood up, put his tray on a trolley by the doors (which Kurogane had previously not noted was there) and walked out of the hall. Again, at a loss of what else to do Kurogane followed suit.

They walked down the corridor which they came down before, it was awkward and dark. It was just like how he had felt for the last few days.

Later that night Kurogane was unable to sleep. Since dinner all he did was sit on the bed, ending up looking out of the window which showed a large back garden cast in grey shadows, he noticed a swing set and a climbing frame but it was not very interesting. Then Himura said he was going to bed and turned off the lights, leaving Kurogane no choice but to either sit in darkness or sleep. Both resulted in nothing but annoyance.

Lying in a strange new bed after his world had been spinning crazily for the last few weeks was not pleasant. When he was at home his father would smile at him, give him a hug and say goodnight then his mother would follow him upstairs and tuck him into bed, telling that she loved him.

Eyes burning slightly Kurogane sat up, rubbing his hand over his eyes. Giving into sadness would not do. He was not going to think about it. He was stronger than that.

Staying in the dark room was not an option. He pulled himself out of the bed and walked out into the corridor. It was just as bleak as it had been during the daytime, however he could see that the entry hall had a light on, as it illuminated the landing.

There sat on the landing with his back against the railings, legs pulled up to his chest with his head resting on his knees was a blonde boy. Kurogane stepped towards him subconsciously; the floorboards creaked under his step. The blonde head shot up, bright blue eyes pierced through the gloomy light.

It was one of the twins.

From the way that the fake smile lit up the pale face Kurogane guessed it was the one that didn't seem to hate him.

Strangely he felt an urge to join the boy. Maybe it was that he didn't want to be alone on his first night here. Or just that he was tired of the loneliness that was surrounding him all the time, not just right now. Either way he ended up stepping onto the landing, he made sure he was quite a way from the blonde before sitting down resting his back against the wall, facing the railing.

"Do you remember me?" the boy said.

Kurogane grunted, basically ignoring the boy. Just because he may or may not have been lonely did mean he wanted to talk. He closed his eyes, wanting calmness he couldn't seem to get from the dark bedroom.

The sound of fabric rustling drew Kurogane's attention back to the blonde. Opening his eyes, Kurogane saw that the boy had shuffled down the railing so he was sitting opposite Kurogane now.

"I'm Yuui," the boy grinned at him, "remember that okay Kuro-pi?"

Grunting again Kurogane shifted so he was further away from the boy once more. However after only one second Yuui moved so he was facing in again.

"Where's the other one?" Kurogane asked, hoping that the other blonde would turn up, glare at him and drag its brother away.

"Brother is sleeping," Yuui leaned forward, purposefully getting into Kurogane's personal space.

"Then go sleep as well," Kurogane said, not liking how close the boy was.

Yuui giggled and pulled away slightly. "Then who would keep you company, Kuro-san?"

Kurogane turned his head away from the blonde, staring at the window high above the door, on the same level as the landing. It was round and dirty, obviously never cleaned as it was too high up to reach.

"It's okay to be lonely," the voice was small; glancing over at the boy he saw that the smile was gone. Blue eyes focused on the floor in front of him, pale arms pulling knees up to his chest. "Everyone gets lonely sometimes. Even in a crowded room, one can be very much alone. No one understands, too involved with their own lives and problems to take so much as take one second to look your way, to talk to you. Being with people just causes more loneliness."

All Kurogane could do was stare at the younger boy. He had to have been ten or eleven but he already seemed to understand the world beyond his years. There was something in his hollow tiny voice which wrenched at Kurogane's heart.

"Doesn't your brother keep you company?"

A small sad grimace flashed across the blondes face, blue eyes turning dull. "I keep _him_ company, not the other way around." Arms tightened on the knees.

Not knowing what else to do, Kurogane reached out a hand and pressed it against a small pale one. Face heating up he quickly pulled it away. He wasn't used to comforting people, especially ones he just met.

The blue eyes closed slightly and a weird tender sparkle entered them, a real smile echoing the sentiment also appeared. "Have you ever wanted someone to take you away from everything?"

Kurogane shot up, not expecting that. "Father always said never to wait for people to do something for you, always try to get what you want yourself, it will be better that way. If you want to then just go."

A bitter smile replaced the once soft one. "If only it were that simple."

"Then make it simple." Yuui looked at him, eyes going wide from shock. Kurogane held the blue gaze firmly, not letting it waver for even a second.

With a small sigh Yuui stood up, he leaned over Kurogane the fake smile returning. "Kuro-rin is very smart and very kind." He stood up straight, looking it the direction of the dark corridor, eyes wavering for a few seconds. "I should go in case brother wakes up; it wouldn't do for him to be lonely." A few steps, a pause. "It would probably be best for Kurogane to leave whilst he can."

In a blur of blonde hair and white fabric Yuui was gone.

The talk with the strange boy only left Kurogane feeling slightly confused. However the sadness from before was gone now, only thoughts of the weird boy remained.

Perhaps Himura was right; _you shouldn't get involved with them_.

Not that he was going to. _Ever_.

What felt like hours later Kurogane went back into the bedroom; he fell asleep easier than expected to. Thankfully only darkness waited for him in his dreams.

The next morning he was woken by his roommate moving around, changing clothes and such. Just before the sound of the door closing he heard, "breakfast is already going on, should be another half hour before it's finished."

Breathing out harshly Kurogane got up from the bed, he quickly took out clothes from the suitcase he had brought with him and changed.

He went down the same route he had taken the day before, making his way towards the dining hall as best he could. The fact that his roommate left him alone when it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since he arrived was not what he would call helpful. Not that he needed any help.

It seemed that the landing was not going to be a very helpful thing either. There stood one blonde boy, who must be glued to damn thing, leaning against the railing this time. The pale face lit up with a bright fake smile when he caught sight of Kurogane.

Practically bouncing with energy the boy came over to him. "Thank you for keeping me company last night, Kuro-san," he said happily.

Kurogane grunted and tried to go downstairs, but was stopped by the boy who moved in front of him.

"I really do appreciate it," this was said somewhat more sincerely.

He looked down at the blonde boy who just looked up at him smiling; sighing in annoyance Kurogane decided he might as well say _something_.

"It's Yuui right?"

The bright blue eyes darkened and the smile disappeared. "No," he said; hurt lacing the voice, "I'm Fai."

This confused him.

He was certain that both times he met the over exuberant boy he was introduced to him as _Yuui_. It couldn't be that he was in fact the other twin, that one had a completely different feel to his presence.

It could just be that he was faking and switched names with his brother.

No, it couldn't be. The expression on the boys face truly looked like he was in pain because Kurogane got his name wrong. It was genuine.

Then why _was_ it the wrong name?

"Of course," Kurogane said, still not overly sure what was going on.

_Fai_ leaned up, looking into Kurogane's face intently. "Don't forget it next time!"

Before Kurogane could say what he wanted, it would have been a really good cutting remark; a different yet similar voice interrupted them.

"Fai!" Turning, the second blonde boy stood not too far from them.

Immediately _Fai_ stepped away from Kurogane and moved over to his twin, as soon as he was within reached the other took _Fai_'s hand, pulling him the rest of the way.

There was that evil glare again. It was practically poisonous.

It was weird, the day before it was not _Fai_ himself that introduced them, but this other boy. He was now absolutely _sure_ that the names had been switched. He doubted the boy he talked to last night was able to look so malevolently at another person, no matter how good at acting like his brother he could be. Those strange eyes which shone with sadness couldn't ever look be like the ones glare at him. Though why he was so sure Kurogane didn't know.

The twins left, _Fai_ being pulled reluctantly behind his twin. He cast a sad glance over his shoulder towards Kurogane as they descended the stairs.

As Kurogane watched them he could only think one thing, _liars_.

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><p>AN: Please comment, I really want to know what people think! Quite nervous about it as it's the first chaptered one I have done.

Yes there is a reason for everything mentioned. Yup even that tiny detail that makes no sense. That too.

First time writing Doumeki, Watanuki and Rikuo (don't worry the latter comes into his own in the next chapter, you know who is going to turn up ;) ) Sorry if any seem really OOC, remember their ages are much younger so they have yet to develop... is that a good excuse?

Anyway, please comment!


	2. Part Two

**Warnings**: AU!, angst, fluff, romance, mystery, violence (later on in the story)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tsubasa or any of the characters involved, they belong to the masterful CLAMP. They also own other characters that are seen and mentioned in the course of this fanfic.

A/N: Sorry this has taken a while, I have had to finish my dissertation for uni due for Friday so been really busy, the next one should be out quicker. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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><p>When Kurogane entered the dining hall he noticed that Fai and Yuui, whichever way round the names happened to be, were once again sat alone at a table far from anyone else. Himura was sat with Watanuki and Doumeki (he thought their names were), talking on a phone. By the time it took Kurogane to get his food and sit down the phone was put away and Himura was looking at him intensely.<p>

"I'm having someone come over today," he said after a while.

Kurogane just watched him for a few seconds, when nothing else followed the words he turned away and began eating his food. What did it matter to him if Himura had someone round?

What must have been five minutes later, spent in near silence (why was it that the other two members of the table just argued all the time?) Himura stood up. He looked down at Kurogane with hard eyes.

"Don't come into the room," he said before walking off.

Wasn't that just great? Second day at the place and he was already being kicked out of the room. What was he supposed to do all day? It was a Sunday and he had very little idea about where anything was.

A spark of annoyance shot through him. Growling in anger he got up from the table, grabbed his tray roughly and left the dining hall, making sure to slam the tray onto the trolley.

Once outside the room he didn't know where to go. He was perfectly able to go to his room however didn't want to see Himura; he could care less about what the boy wanted him to do but it would just be even more annoying to look at him.

There was very little else for him to do though.

Looking both ways down the hall he began walking in the direction he had not been in. Getting the lay of land was one of the key things to do in any situation. With that thought in mind he decided to look around the building so he would not be caught unawares in the future.

That was easier said than done. Within only a few seconds on walking down the hall Kurogane found himself forcefully dragged into a room. There was a firm grip in his arm; with very little trouble he reversed the hold. A thin wrist was beneath his hand. Looking over at who had assaulted him he was a set of bright blue eyes and a pale doll-like face that was currently painted red with anger. This must be _Yuui_ judging by the sour look on his face.

Kurogane released the hold he had on the smaller boy's wrist. "What is it you want?" he asked, taking a step away from the blonde for good measure.

Yuui scowled at him. "Stay away from Fai," he said, voice low.

Huffing Kurogane turned away from the blonde, intending to leave the room. "I have no intention of being near him," he said. There was no way that he wanted to get into some weird fight with a younger boy over said boys twin, especially as he didn't have the least bit of interest in said twin.

"Whether or not it is your _intention_," the voice behind him said darkly, "I will give you one warning." Kurogane moved to face him, it was then that the real difference between the two twins struck him, true he had not known them for any time at all but from the one in front of him he could sense something the other did not have. It was dark, malice shining through the blue eyes and the small fragile body giving off the vibe of power which was not to be expected from such a slight being. There was defiantly something not quite right with this one.

The boy took one purposeful step towards him. "Stay away from my brother or _else_," he hissed. With that he scowled and made his way towards the door.

Kurogane didn't want to leave it like that. Like hell he would let some puny little blonde brat threaten him! "Or else what?"

Quick as lightening Yuui spun around; something glinted at the boy's side before Kurogane found a sharp knife aimed at his heart. A millimetre more and the blade would be pressed against his flesh, he could feel the indent it made on his clothing. The hand holding the weapon was steady, only anger was on the boys face. It was clear that the boy in front of him would not think twice about running him through with the knife.

"Or _else_," the voice was barely above a whisper. The knife was drawn back, sharp eyes fixed firmly on Kurogane's face as Yuui exited the room with the door slamming after him.

Annoyance planted itself firmly in Kurogane's mind. Why the hell should he be threatened with a knife on his second day in this hellish orphanage? He didn't care about whatever brother complex must have been the cause of this fiasco; they could do whatever they wanted so long as he was out of it all. The next time he sees the non-murderous twin he would have a few choice words to say to him then never go near the weird blonde again. Not that he was worried about the threat; he just didn't want to be close to either one of them.

Grunting in frustration Kurogane left the room, still intent on mapping out the building.

He soon found out that wandering around the corridors without any clear distinctions as to what everything was or where things were probably was not the best idea he had ever had. It took him nearly two hours to clearly get the huge bottom floor figured out; going around the corridors six times to make sure he had his bearings. Unfortunately there was nothing of much interest expect winding halls that interlinked, all the rooms were pretty much replicas of each other. There were a few locked doors which probably didn't have anything overly interesting in, most likely some kind of weird supplies to keep the place running.

After he firmly had everything about the ground floor memorised he thought that the outside would be the next step, going upstairs would most likely be fruitless as most of the rooms were children's bedrooms so the more interesting things first.

He carefully made his way towards the door at the back of the building that he discovered led to the garden.

It looked just like he had seen from his bedrooms window. A pale green grass that cracked underfoot, leaves that had fallen from a gigantic weeping willow crunched when stepped on, the early autumn weather hadn't taken a lot of leaves from the tree yet.

Glancing around Kurogane had the sudden urge to bash his head against the brick wall behind him. There had to be some vengeful spirit after him, how else could he keep meeting the damn blonde boy everywhere he turned?

Only one of the twins was there, swaying idly on the swing with the willows branches hanging over it, head down focusing on the ground beneath him. From the calm atmosphere around the boy Kurogane determined that it was the less homicidal one.

Without even thinking Kurogane made his way towards the boy, rationalising the action afterwards as being from the need to tell the boy off in some way.

He was quite a way from the blonde when the pale head snapped up from its contemplation of the grass and leaves to stare over at the new arrival. For a few seconds Kurogane could see sadness painted over the boys face but it was quickly gone, replaced with a fake grin.

"Kuro-pon we meet again!" The boy said happily.

If Kurogane wasn't sure that it was the twin he thought it was that would have clinched it, stupid nick-names.

"It's _Kurogane_," he growled when he was within hearing distance of the boy.

_Fai_ smiled up at him, rocking on the swing harder so it was moving properly now. "That isn't cute, I prefer Kuro-rin!" A giggle followed the statement.

Grunting at that, not caring in the least if his name was _cute_, Kurogane decided to get to why he approached the boy. Looking down at the boy's fake grin he lost all the words of anger which had built up inside him after his run-in with _Yuui_. Maybe it was just that he had become too tired after mapping out the orphanage, maybe it was that the anger had simply dissipated in the two hours it took him to get this far, or maybe it was the bright eyed look of expectation on the boys face. Whatever it was made him forget what he was about to say. Those shining blue eyes just stared at him as if whatever he was about to say was most important thing in the world to the smaller boy.

"What is it Kuro-sama?" The boy said suddenly, another giggle irrupting from his mouth. "You've been staring at me blankly for quite a while now."

Snapping out his reverie Kurogane growled at the boy who only smiled widely at him. "Nothing," he said.

"Okay then," Fai said softly.

Kurogane looked across at the giant mass of back garden. There didn't seem to be anything in it, no trace of children's toys or grass worn to dirt from being played on too many times. It was a very weird look for an orphanage, the swing and climbing frame were the only things that showed it was a garden for children. The fence around the expanse of land was the same as out front, a rusty dirty silver with spikes, it was a wonder that no one had been hurt from the sharp points. Overall it was nothing special.

The small squeaking of chains from the swing mixed with the soft rustle of leaves as the wind blew calmly through the trees branches. It was a very calming atmosphere. Just like how it had been last night. There was something about this weird boy's presence, which although caused him frustration and anger, was oddly relaxing.

Something inside Kurogane was restless though, he felt a need to _do_ something. Just standing there wouldn't do him any good. Since his parents had passed away everything was rushed and he hadn't been able to control anything going on around him, he had to sit back and let the _adults_ do everything. Now he was itching to do something himself, to not just let things happen around him anymore.

It seemed that being in a calm atmosphere had awakened his sense of need once more.

But, there was nothing _to_ do.

He had planned to memorise the whole orphanage and so he would just continue to do that until he could find something else to occupy himself with.

After only taking four steps away from the swing to go over the garden he heard the clang of chains from behind him. It was better not to know what the blonde was doing, he reminded himself. He took a few more steps. There was the distinct feeling someone following him. Sighing in annoyance Kurogane turned around only to see Fai standing quite close to him look up at him with curious eyes. Quickly he spun around again and continued to walk towards the back of the garden trying his best to ignore the boy trailing after him like a duckling.

What was a tad unnerving was that were Kurogane could hear his footsteps as the leaves and grass cracked underneath him he couldn't hear that Fai was walking after him, the only sign that he was there at all was the _feeling_ Kurogane got from it. There was defiantly something not right with the blonde; no child was _that_ good at disguising their movements unless trained to.

When he reached the end of the garden, he came to a stop just before the bars of the metal gate. Beyond them was a sparse forest which he couldn't see very far into it as the branches from the trees were huge, covering the area in shade. The grass beyond the gate was a luscious green, looking fresh and lively nothing at all like the grass inside it.

Looking back at the orphanage showed nothing but a falling down building full of neglect, outside the cold metal bars was so much different, even the grass was better. A shiver ran down Kurogane's spine as he looked at the building, there was wrongness about the whole thing. An impulsive thought flickered across his mind, what would happen if he simply climbed over the gate and made a break for it? He doubted anyone would miss him, sure the orphanage might get in a bit of trouble for losing a child but some sacrifices had to be made.

Reaching out Kurogane grasped the cold metal bars; he could feel flakes of rust cutting into his hand.

"What are you doing?" a small voice cut through into Kurogane's mind. Quickly he spun around, only to see the small blonde boy staring at him in concern.

He had forgotten that he was being followed.

Stepping away from the bars, letting go of the gate slowly Kurogane eyed the boy.

"Nothing," he said for the second time that day.

Blue eyes scanned him quickly. "If you want to run away it would be easier to just not come back from school."

At the words _run away_ Kurogane bristled, he had never _run away_ from anything and he certainly was not about to start now. He narrowed his eyes at Fai and stared down at him.

The fake smile on the boys face was gone. Strangely Fai stood on tip-toes and reached up, placing a small hand over Kurogane's left eye, gently resting it there. He then covered his own eye. A small genuine smile graced his features.

Annoyed at the weird action Kurogane gripped the blonde's wrist to pull the hand away from him but was shocked to find that it was much thinner than Yuui's. He could feel every bone and muscle underneath the flesh. It was scary how small the boy really was.

"Your eyes are like rubies," Fai said softly.

Kurogane let go of the wrist, it fell down by the boy's side immediately as if he had forgotten about the appendage.

_Enough of this. _

Having had enough of the blonde for one day Kurogane set off back to the orphanage, he could scope out the garden another day.

"It would be better if Kurogane _did_ run away," the small voice behind him said, "before it is too late."

It was the same kind of thing that _Yuui_ had said the night before. Not having any idea what he was going on about Kurogane just continued towards the building. This time he couldn't feel the boy following him. Hating himself for doing so, Kurogane glanced over his shoulder to see Fai standing next to the gate, hugging his body as though trying to keep out the cold, head bowed down staring at the ground. It was a pathetic sight, but somehow it caused pain to throb in Kurogane's chest, just a little.

Wiping the image from his mind he continued onward.

When he was back inside he realised that he didn't know what time it was anymore and he had nothing to do. If he was going to be bored he might as well do it in his own room, he didn't care what Himura had said about not going in. He's be damned if he was going to let himself be bossed around.

He walked down the hallways with confidence, now knowing the way around the bottom floor perfectly which brought up a bit of smug satisfaction, he doubted anyone else would be able to navigate through it so well on their second day. Smirking in satisfaction to himself he entered the giant entrance hall heading to the stairs.

Opening the door marked '3' Kurogane entered the room, only to find Himura making out with someone on one of the beds. He was knelt over someone holding the others arms above their head firmly whilst looking like he was trying to eat their face. At least that is what Kurogane thought it looked like.

Kurogane coughed loudly to get their attention, which worked, as he saw Himura's partners' eyes flash open and the arms trying to fight against the boys hold. He heard Himura groan and pull away from the lips he had been ravaging. As soon as he was away his partner started yelling.

"Let me go Rikuo! Get off!"

Himura glared first at the person under him then over at Kurogane before releasing the arms which allowed his companion to hit and push at the body over them until it retreated. That let Kurogane see who Himura was with. It shocked him a little to see that the person was a thin boy, who looked quite effeminate if he did say so himself. Light brown hair which was longer on his right side, huge brown eyes, accompanied by a scowl and a heavy blush.

The boy then scrambled off the bed, as if getting away from it would mean that he had never been laying there to start off with. Himura stared at the boy in mild annoyance but with a wicked grin as though he enjoyed watching the others embarrassment.

Kurogane just raised an eyebrow at the boy who was looking around like he was trying to find a way to escape. He seemed to seriously be considering the window at that moment.

"What are you doing here?" Himura asked, still only having eyes for the boy who wanted to escape.

Kurogane crossed his arms over his chest and stared hard at Himura. "I am allowed to be here as much as you; it is my room as well."

The seemingly skittish boy breathed in harshly, turned to Himura, glaring at him. "You didn't tell me you had a new roommate!" He yelled, much too loudly. Hurriedly he bowed to Kurogane formally. "I'm Kudo Kazahaya," he moved upright again, "I'm sorry I hadn't been told about you." He continued to glare at Himura.

"Whatever," Kurogane grunted walking over to his bed.

"Umm..." Kudo said, obviously wanting to say something else.

"C'mon," Himura cut in. He grabbed Kudo's arm and proceeded to drag the boy out of the room, staring angrily at Kurogane the whole time.

"What do you think you are doing? Hey let me go!" Was heard as the door slammed closed behind them.

Kurogane sat on his bed staring into nothing. He wished that everyone in this god-forsaken orphanage would stop shouting all the time. That Kudo person and Watanuki both had very loud voices.

Sighing he stared out of the window like he had the day before, just watching the blue sky unseeingly. Something shining down below caught his eye, for a second he could have sworn it was a blonde head but it was gone the moment he tried to focus on it.

This place was going to drive him crazy.

Much the same as the previous day Kurogane sat in silence until he heard the chattering of children in the hallway outside his door, assuming it was a meal he made his way downstairs after he thought everyone had already left. Once he entered the dining hall he got his food and sat on a table alone, he preferred it that way. It was also quite pleasing to see the glare that Himura threw this way, the Kudo boy mysteriously missing from his side now.

Throughout the meal he got odd looks from the other children around him, however the blonde twins were not there, not that he looked for them.

After, what was actually dinner; he went back to his room, watched the sunset through the window and fell into a restless sleep.

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><p><em>Images of his father and mother flashed in front of his eyes. Blood coated his own hands, sticky with the putrid scent of copper lacing it. He rubbed at them but it wouldn't come off. Panting he looked around himself, nothing but darkness. <em>

_It was cold. His breath floated in front of him in little steam clouds. A wave of pain shot through his body. Before he knew what happened his feet collapsed from under him. _

_He was alone in a cold, dark, painful world. _

_A flash of gold to his left. _

_Looking over he could see a small bright light, as he gazed at it the light grew bigger._

_The silhouette of a person could be seen. _

_A hand reached out towards him. He hesitated, not sure what was happening._

"_Come on Kurogane," a soft voice said, he could of sworn he heard it before but had no clue where from. "You'll be alright."_

_It sounded safe, comforting. Without thinking he automatically held out his hand that was grasped tightly but gently._

_Warmth flooded through him, taking away the sting of cold. His heart beat quickened, as he was pulled up and felt arms wrap around his body. _

_Closing his eyes he felt himself drift off into a comforting slumber. _

* * *

><p>AN: Not exactly what was supposed to be in this chapter. The thing with Fai wasn't planned like that, neither was the weird dream at the end. Actually this chapter was supposed to be about twice as long but have decided to split it into two as it would have taken ages to finish it. The lovely fluffy ending to the chapter will have to be used for the next one instead; I want to post the fluff! (already written it and everything) Hope it wasn't _too_ boring for all of you, not the most exciting thing in the world but it will action up, trust! Kuro will get to strut his stuff soon! A bit sad that Kazahaya didn't get to do much in this, had to put him in though.

Oh, are there any requests for characters to be in it? Some of them I know I will use but for minor ones it is flexible (but you should know I haven't read all the CLAMP manga so some characters I don't really know.)

Please leave a comment, it would be great just to know if people are reading this or not! *feels insecure*


	3. Part Three

**Words**: 5,126

**Warnings**: AU!, angst, fluff, romance, mystery, violence

**Summary**: At the age of thirteen Kurogane's life changed when his parents died. Without anyone to take care of him there was no choice but to send him to an orphanage, Hallow Home for Orphans, there he met two weird blond boys. However that was the least of his problems, in the orphanage something strange was going on and, like it or not, Kurogane got himself pulled right into the centre of it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tsubasa or any of the characters involved, they belong to the masterful CLAMP. They also own other characters that are seen and mentioned in the course of this fanfic.

A/N: Sorry for the really late update, excuses at the bottom note. So here is the longest chapter yet as compensation for waiting for over a month! ;P This has the fluff I have had written from halfway through the first chapter, so be sure to read the end! OMG, is that plot becoming clearer I see!

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><p>Screams echoed through the hallway, people running and what sounded like crying. It was very noisy. Groaning in annoyance Kurogane got up from bed, threw on some clothes and walked out of the room, taking time to note that Himura was not present.<p>

There was no one left in the corridor, but the noise was coming from downstairs now. Turning towards the stairs he saw two familiar blond heads, they were the only people standing on the balcony, one leaning up slightly to look over the banister whilst the other was kneeling on the floor peering down.

Sighing in annoyance Kurogane walked to the banister, trying to make his way down the stairs.

"Kuro-min!" A happy voice said from behind him.

Turning slowly, he saw that the boy on the floor has moved so he was facing Kurogane a fake smile in place.

"What," growling at the way he was called and the stupid grin.

The boy gestured empathically for Kurogane to come towards them, by this time the other twin was looking over at him a sour look clear on his face.

Screams erupted once more from downstairs, right under them in the entrance hall. Not because the blond wanted him to Kurogane walked over to banister, looking down only to see over two dozen children standing there. There were two men dressed in beige carrying a stretcher slowly towards the front door. A white sheet was draped over a body, it was not pulled up over the face so Kurogane assumed the person, _child_, was still alive. Red was staining the white though; obviously they had been able to stop the bleeding yet.

"Apparently it was an accident," the boy on the floor said, "There have been a lot of _accidents_."

Finally the men in beige had left the building after their slow trek.

The second sighed. "Let's go," he said, stepping away from the banister and making his way to the stairs.

The other stood up; he stared at Kurogane intensely before reaching out, touching his arm softly. "Be careful," he said before following after his brother, who sent Kurogane a venomous glare whilst the other wasn't looking.

Kurogane was surprised that when the twins reached the bottom of the staircase the other children parted seemingly automatically to let them through, some casting nervous glances in their direction. It was as though they were afraid of them.

In a few minutes everyone filed out of the hall. Something made Kurogane stay where he was, intuition maybe, whatever it was he listened to it.

Not too long after the children were gone the creak of a door sounded and two sets of footsteps could be heard.

"... we don't want to but it's for their own safety," an unfamiliar voice said.

"It's understandable, but please just a bit more," it was the voice of the woman who runs the orphanage, "we are very close."

A sad sigh. "There is only so much we can give."

"Please?" It was almost begging.

Kurogane saw the tops of their heads emerge from below the balcony; he noticed that the other person was a man dressed in navy blue nothing that he recognised as a uniform of any kind. Quietly he stepped away from the edge, so if they looked up he would not be clearly seen.

"...Alright, but only one more, after that I am not sticking my neck out for this any longer," the man's voice was gruff.

"Thank you," the woman basically panted relief clear. "It will work this time, I swear it."

"Whatever," the man said.

The footsteps stopped, the sound of the front door opening and closing. After that the woman sighed loudly before bustling out of the room.

For what must have been about five minutes Kurogane stood thinking about what he had just heard. It could be taken in many ways, different meanings flashed across his mind but nothing could be said for sure. The compulsion to stay was long gone but he stayed until children stared coming back up to get ready for school after finishing their breakfast. Just because they had seen an injured body did not mean their appetite was gone apparently.

It wasn't until Himura informed him that he had been instructed to take Kurogane to school that he realised he had no uniform, he was given one of the Himura's but was less than thrilled about it. The shoulders were too narrow and he was taller than the other boy, meaning the legs came up to short. It was uncomfortable and looked ridiculous, however there was no other choice as he had not been told what to do about a uniform. From the smirk Himura was sporting he knew all about it but was enjoying him being humiliated, obviously he was being vindictive as he got interrupted sucking on that Kudo kids face yesterday.

School was uninteresting, it was a fairly less run-down building than the orphanage and quite large. He had to report to the teachers' room where he met up with a middle-aged woman with a sickly sweet smile and sympathetic eyes, he hated that. When he was introduced into the class ("Suwa Youou." "It's Kurogane!"), who looked like a group of idiots, he noted that they all looked at him edgily as if they expected him to attack them, which was odd. His appearance at the time was not the least bit threatening.

He slung his bag, which he had from his previous school, on his desk at the back of the classroom then preceded to examine his classmates whilst completely ignoring the teacher. They all kept casting anxious looks at him every few minutes, only one was of any note and that was Kudo who met his stare once and turned bright red before turning away quickly.

During the whole lesson all he could hear was the droning of the teacher and some muttered comments between friends. Nothing of interest.

Lesson time when quite quickly and in what seemed like no time at all the bell rang for lunch break, Kudo shuffled over to his desk.

"I would like to apologise again for yesterday," he said softly, obviously still embarrassed.

Although the boys humiliation was relatively amusing it was not needed. Kurogane grunted in response.

"If you'd like I can help you catch up in class," the boy was smiling happily now, eyes bright and eager.

Kurogane just stared at the boy, how stupid was he?

"Oi, Kazahaya!" A voice yelled, there was Himura leaning against the doorframe a bored expression on his face.

"Shut up!" Kudo spun around yelling,

Himura scoffed, walking over to them. "Come on," he said, grabbing the slight boy's wrist.

There was a struggle for a few seconds before the boy was successfully dragged away. Why was it that everyone appeared to manhandle each other in this place?

Whatever it was none of his concern.

The other children in his class continued to stare at him weirdly before he had enough and decided to leave. As he did he overheard a couple of girls talking;

"He's from the orphanage too; wonder if he is part of _that_."

"He's kind of cool."

"You better not get too close, remember what happened to Sara?"

"... well he _does_ look dangerous..."

_Stupid girls_, he thought as he left the room. True he didn't know what they were talking about but the idea that they wouldn't go near someone just because of the orphanage was ridiculous. He really didn't want anyone to get close of him, but it was the principle of the matter.

Walking through the halls he saw that everyone looked at him oddly, more than is normal just for someone that transferred in.

Enough was enough; he wouldn't be able to stand a whole day of everyone staring at him. With that thought in mind he made his to the school gates, no one even bothered to say anything when he casually left the premises.

Unfortunately he couldn't think of anywhere else to go as he wasn't in the mood to start exploring anything else in the dreary looking town. So reluctantly he went back to the orphanages, it felt like a very long walk and the fact that he dragged his feet most of the trip had a little something to do with that.

When there he went through the gates and creaked the front door open. Looking around he didn't see any of the staff (not that he had ever seen anyone but the supposed head of the orphanage). He took a few steps into building before he heard a noise, the shifting of cloth then –

"Hyuu~ Kuro-wan is a bad doggy!"

Groaning Kurogane looked up at the balcony and saw a small blond head poking through the banister, a wide grin on his face.

"What the hell was that noise you just made?" Kurogane yelled, forgetting about not being caught skipping school by any adults around.

The blond boy laughed somewhat manically before pushing himself up and tottering down the stairs. He stopped when he was three steps away from the bottom, probably because that made him taller than Kurogane.

"Why is Kuro-min back so early from school, has he been a bad boy?" The boy placed his hands on his hips and stared down at Kurogane, blue eyes sparkling merrily. "Did he get kicked out already?"

Scoffing Kurogane studied the boy, it was definitely the less homicidal one of the two, he wasn't wearing any kind of uniform. "Why aren't you in school?"

The blond laughed again. "Brother and I don't go to school," he explained, smiling softly, "we have a private tutor."

"Why?"

Shrugging the boy hopped down the last we steps and stood facing Kurogane head on. "It's better that way apparently."

Kurogane glared at that, there was no way that would be an explanation as to why he was allowed a private tutor and the rest of the orphans had to go to a school which treated them like plague infested rats.

"What's your name anyway?" Kurogane said trying to distract him so he could attempt to walk around the boy.

"You really have a bad memory Kuro-rin," the boy laughed, "I'm Yuui!"

"Really now? You were Fai yesterday."

"No I wasn't," Yuui said, confusion on his face.

"Yes you were," Kurogane argued.

Yuui leaned up, arm outstretched, he placed a cold pale hand on Kurogane's forehead. The action caught him off guard; the hand was soft and gentle making him remember all the times his mother had done the same thing, and that she would never be able to do it again.

"Well you don't have a temperature," Yuui said, withdrawing his hand, "it must just be that your brain is broken."

Snapping out of his sad thoughts Kurogane bristled in anger. "My brain is not broken!"

"Are you sure?" Yuui asked, faux-concern in his voice. "You can't even remember a simple name."

Rolling his eyes Kurogane again attempted to go around the boy however Yuui stepped in his way. Once more he made for the stairs but the blond got in front of him.

"What?" He growled out in annoyance.

"Why are you not in school?" Yuui crossed his eyes and raised an eyebrow at him,

"Because I don't want to be!"

"That is not good enough, you need to go to school otherwise you won't be able to fix your poor brain skills."

"_Poor brain skills_?" Kurogane shot back. "You _definitely_ should go to school." Looking around Kurogane wondered where the boy's brother was. "Where is your twin anyway?"

"He's in a lesson at the moment!" Yuui chirped happily.

"Why aren't _you_ there?"

Yuui grinned. "Because I'm ahead of him in studies so Ashura-sensei spends more time with brother."

"Ashura?"

Nodding. "Ashura-sensei is our tutor. He comes everyday but I have less lessons than brother." At that Yuui's eyes dimmed slightly in sadness, he looked lonely just as he had yesterday.

A small twinge occurred in his chest at that expression.

Unsure what to say Kurogane just stood there looking at the small blond boy who seemed so lost and alone in the world.

"What do you do when he is in private lessons?" Kurogane asked, curious.

Yuui turned and pointed to the landing he had come down from. "I sit up there."

"And do what?"

"Wait."

When nothing else followed that Kurogane just stared at the boy, what kid in their right mind would just sit waiting? Looking at the blond boy Kurogane reminded himself that from what he had seen the boy was not in his _right mind_.

Sighing Kurogane placed his hand on a small shoulder and used it to move the smaller boy so he could get passed him and up the stairs. As expected Yuui followed him, trailing a few steps behind, like some kind of duckling. Kurogane tried to ignore him and made his way towards his room however when he entered the corridor he stopped hearing the footsteps of the other boy.

Turning around he saw that Yuui had stopped just before the hallway opening. Blue eyes shone in confusion as he looked around himself. Confused Kurogane took a few more steps towards his room, he didn't want the blond to follow him so it shouldn't matter what he was doing.

A tiny squeak echoed down the corridor. Kurogane swung back around to see Yuui looking at him somewhat pleadingly one small hand slightly stretched out to him. On a closer look he could see the small appendage shaking.

Annoyed at the weird reaction Kurogane stomped over to Yuui, he grabbed the hand firmly and tugged the boy towards him.

"If you want to come then just do so, idiot," he grumbled dragging the boy to his room.

After only a few steps he felt Yuui cling to his side and a small sigh escape his lips.

For the rest of the afternoon Yuui sat on reading, after having an initial snoop round and finding a book about kendo amongst Kurogane's belongings he took to sitting crossed legs on the centre of the bed staring at it intently. Kurogane let him as it was quieter to just the boy do as he pleased. He however was leant against the wall thinking.

It was peaceful to just relax in the others company, not having to speak or doing anything. A small smile graced Kurogane's lips as he watched the small boy shift, for the past hour the number of times Yuui fidgeted had increased and Kurogane enjoyed the look of annoyance the passed over the pale face each time.

There was something comforting and almost familiar about the calmness that laid over the room.

Stomping could be heard outside.

"Fai!" A voice called loudly.

The boy on the bed tensed.

"Fai!"

Blue eyes glazed over. Then shot up from the bed, scrambling to the door, flinging it open.

"Brother!" He cried out, rushing out of the room.

Kurogane sighed and followed the boy; no doubt he will end up face first on the floor the way he was going.

Down the corridor he saw two identical blond boys embracing.

"Oh Fai," one breathed out, putting his hand on the others face to hold it still. "I was so worried when you weren't waiting for me; I thought something bad might have happened to you."

"I'm okay, I was just with Kuro-pu!" The other laughed.

Both boys turned to look at Kurogane who was just outside his room. one smiling and one glaring hateful daggers at him.

The angrier of the two focused back on his twin. "Never do that again," he said, "listen to me Fai!" The other snapped his attention back to the identical boy. "Never somewhere without me knowing. _Never_. Do you understand?"

Nodding.

Kurogane scowled at them.

"I thought your name was Yuui," he said gruffly.

That was necessarily a good thing as two pairs of blue eyes looked over at him.

The less homicidal of the two smiled over at him.

"No silly, I'm Fai!" He laughed.

This was getting ridiculous.

"What is your family name?" He asked.

"Motosuwa," they answered together.

Nodding in understanding he rearranged the names in his head, switching between what they called themselves was just confusing. "Motosuwa" was the more dangerous one that was for certain. Not that it mattered.

The twins stared at him for a few seconds before Motosuwa grabbed Fai's wrist and started to pull him towards the landing.

"Let's say goodbye to Ashura-sensei before he goes home," he said, Fai just nodded helplessly allowing himself to be led away.

When they passed by Kurogane Fai smiled over at him, though it was small and fake, whilst Motosuwa sent him a death-glare.

Kurogane just knew that he would be in for another threatening with a knife.

This was really not worth his time, all it caused was problems.

One of which being that he didn't know why he allowed the blond boy to stay in his room at all or why he felt so comfortable about it.

Trying to push that thought out of his mind Kurogane sighed and went back into his room. He lent against the headrest of his bed, thinking.

Sometime later Himura came into the room, glaring at him and setting up at a desk to do homework. Neither talked for a long time, eventually Kurogane fell asleep in his upright position, he could still hear everything around himself but he felt separate from it all.

Very relaxing.

* * *

><p>The next morning went very similar to the first he was there; he was woken by Himura, got changed then went down to the cafeteria where he ate and lamented to himself about the noise before going to school. Surprisingly he didn't see the Motosuwa twins; they weren't even in the hall. Not that he looked.<p>

School was boring however Kurogane decided to stay for the whole day, which certainly wasn't because that if he went back to the orphanage he might run into a blond nuisance. Unfortunately he did have to go to the deputy-headmasters office because he had skipped out of classes the previous day. After sitting through a lecture about how he should learn to be responsible and that it was a very important time in his life so he should take it all seriously, which all of his break period he was sent back to lessons.

Suffice to say this did nothing for his mood, which was somewhere between righteous indignation and fury. He tried to suppress his anger but when he heard all the other students whispering behind his back again it was all wasted effort.

When the school-day finished he stormed out of the classroom and walked back to the orphanage as quickly as possible.

"Yay!" An annoying voice greeted him when he arrived; unfortunately he was the first one back so he was alone with _it_ again. "Kuro-tan made it through a whole day! I'm so proud!"

A blond limpet attached itself to his arm, clinging tightly.

Sighing Kurogane looked down to see sparkling blue eyes staring up at him.

"Leave me alone," Kurogane grunted attempting to push the thing off his arm. After a few minutes of trying, feeling more like hours, the boy giggled, let go and skipped back a few steps obviously finding get delight in annoying innocent people.

Loud noises came from outside, the sounds of children coming home, laughing, screaming and complaining.

Within seconds children burst through the doors, they glanced at them before either going through the main door or up the stairs.

Kurogane noticed that the blonds eyes were wide in wonder as he looked on at the people who basically ignoring him. It was as though they didn't see him as such a threat when he was alone. He found his very interesting, in an uncaring way.

Two younger boys came in laughing louder than the others; they kept pushing each other around ignoring the others who huffed at them as they collided with objects and people.

Unfortunately one of the people happened to be a startled blond boy.

The push was harder than the others and the little boy careened straight into the blond who only gasped before being sent backwards.

A loud _crack_ echoed around the entryway as a pale head collided with the first step of the stairs.

Red liquid oozed out, staining the yellow hair pink.

Screams rang out from the girls drawing the attention of adults quickly who dashed into the room to see what was wrong.

The owner of the orphanage gasped and ran over to the boys side, picking him up, cradling the now unconscious boy in her arms. Blood spread onto her quickly.

"FAI!" A voice yelled.

At the top of the stairs stood the twin, who rushed down to practically accost the woman.

"What happened? What's going on? Who did this?"

Kurogane could see the panic clear on the pale face, he almost felt sorry for the little psycho.

"Please calm down," the woman said, walking towards the main door ignoring when Motosuwa stepped in her way to stare up at his brother. "We need to get him to Sakurazuka-sensei before he loses too much blood so if _everyone_ would get out of the way."

Like that the gathered children parted, even Motosuwa moved to the side, instead walking next to the woman. They reached the doors and the woman quickly went through, leaving behind a trail of red.

Before leaving the room Motosuwa glanced over at Kurogane, sending him a glare filled with the promise of pain. Obviously he believed the whole mess to be his fault.

After they were gone the children mumbled amongst themselves gravitating away from the scene gradually.

For some reason Kurogane stayed to stare at the spot where Fai had hit his head. There was a puddle of blood glistening slightly before it dried.

A pain filled his heart, tightening around it like an elastic band.

Fear.

Which was ridiculous, he didn't want the boy to die but that was the same for anyone. It wasn't like he actually thought that Fai _would_ die anyway, head injuries were dangerous but there is a fully capable staff (he assumed a the orphanage was still running) who could take care of it all.

So why had he been afraid for the boy.

Shaking his head, Kurogane headed back up to his room.

It was all stupid.

* * *

><p>At breakfast the next morning he noticed that the twins weren't there. He couldn't help his interest in if the injured one was alright, it felt as though a small pit had formed in his stomach thinking about the blond boy covered in blood. Trying to stop those thoughts Kurogane focused back on his food, when that failed to hold his interest he got up and headed to school early.<p>

He walked slowly, trying to delay the inevitable whispering which will follow him all day again. Although it had only been two days at the place he knew that he was in for at least two and a half years more years of the same.

When he entered the classroom all too soon he noticed Kudo sitting there reading a book, the only one in the whole room. The boy looked up at him, a shy smile lit his face, however he did not try to engage Kurogane in conversation, obviously learning from the ignorance he had gotten the previous day.

Classes were boring; it didn't even seem that the teachers were trying to make the information palatable.

Worst was art class. The airy-fairy teacher had decided that they all _simply must_ know how to create paper flowers, like that was ever going to come up in real life. It involved a lot of folding, twirling and patience, none of which Kurogane cared for at that moment in time, his first attempt coming out as a screwed up ball.

Probably the most embarrassing thing about the whole ordeal was when Kudo came over to him and coached him through the process. Annoying the boy was better at explaining than the teacher and his second try turned out more like a flower. On the third, as making them was all they were doing for the lesson, he was told to use different colours so it looked like a real flower. It didn't look real but it wasn't half bad.

At the end of the lesson he felt compelled to put the last flower in his bag, discarding the other two.

Surprisingly Kudo had decided to stay with him for the rest of the lessons as Kurogane's hostility towards him had lessened somewhat after he had helped him not make a complete fool of himself in art.

He didn't like the boy though.

After school he was dragged along with Kudo to find Himura, who was standing by the gates with the loud boy Watanuki and his friend Doumeki. He stood there awkwardly as the boys talked, then got dragged along once more as they made their way to orphanage. The rest of the day turned out to be him pulled along to various rooms which all seemed alike.

Although he could have easily gotten away from them he couldn't be bothered so just went along with it.

He didn't see the Motosuwa twins at all that day.

* * *

><p>During breakfast the following day he saw that twins were back.<p>

White bandages were wrapped tightly around one pale head whilst Motosuwa looked to be fussing over his brother to the point where he was almost spoon-feeding him. Pulling his eyes away from the weird scene Kurogane tried to listen to what the two boys opposite him were talking about, that was fairly uninteresting.

He allowed himself to be lead to school and managed to stand half of the day until he came upon an unsightly scene. He had left Kudo to find the other boys by himself for lunch when four girls had backed the boy into a corner.

"As if it wasn't bad enough that you were dating one of the orphans you had to befriend the new one," one girl sneered, voice scratchy.

"Three of them!" The second screeched. "How could you be hanging around three of them?"

The third stepped forward, poking Kudo hard in the chest. "You're going to bring misfortune on all of us normal people."

"Don't touch him!" The last one cried out, cowering away from them all.

"She's right," screeching girl said, "who knows what he has caught from his _boyfriend_."

Kudo glared at them. "They haven't got any disease they are like us. In fact they are more human than any of _you_."

"Yeah right," the first scoffed, "you had better stay away from us normal people from now on."

Laughing the girls walked off.

Kudo collapsed against the wall, shaking as though he had run a marathon. Not wanting to see any more Kurogane turned away. Once more he left the school without any trouble from teachers.

When he arrived at the orphanage he stopped. He didn't particularly want to stay indoors, instead he went around the back to the garden.

Turning the corner Kurogane was not in the least surprised when he saw a blond sitting on a swing rocking it gently. Of course whichever way he goes the boy would be there, just his luck. He moved forward walking up behind the blond. When he was not too far away he heard a small giggle.

"You should stop skipping classes Kuro-pi," was said in between laughs.

Kurogane walked around the swing so he could look at the blond properly, who was smiling up at him, blue eyes shining brightly.

"And you should try going to some," Kurogane said back.

The boys smile got bigger and he started to swing properly, kicking his legs back and forth, bringing forth loud squeaks from the old chains.

"Who are you today?"

That made the smile freeze in place. "You know who I am, Kuro-chi," he said, his voice slightly rough, "I'm Yuui."

Kurogane grunted and just watching as _Yuui_ continued to swing, the white bandage wrapped around the top of his head coming loose.

_One of the first things your father gave me were flowers, after our first date I came down with a cold and he gave them to me in hopes that I would get better_, Kurogane remembered his mother telling him this when he was little, he had just given her a bunch of flowers he'd picked from the garden.

Without thinking he reached into his school bag and took out the paper flower he had left in there. Closing his eyes he pushed it toward Yuui saying "here!"

The squeaking of the swings chains stilled. "What is it?" a curious voice asked.

Opening his eyes Kurogane saw that the flower was crumpled slightly, the blond was staring at it with interest.

"It's a paper flower; our lazy arse art teacher had us make them yesterday, so here have it." Kurogane couldn't stand to look at Yuui, so stared in the opposite direction.

A soft hand touched his and he felt the paper flower being taken carefully, gentle fingers lingered on his skin longer than necessary, at least he thought so.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

Kurogane could feel his whole face heat up; he had hoped the idiot wouldn't look into this too much. "Y-you...," he stuttered, cursing himself as he did so, "...you're head. You've probably got brain damage so this is in the hopes that it gets better."

Looking back over at the blond Kurogane saw a small _real_ smile light up the face, the paper flower clutched tightly to his chest, a slight smile of his own formed from just looking at Yuui.

Small red patches graced Yuui's face. He suddenly shot up grabbing the front of Kurogane's shirt, without any warning he wrenched the tall boy down and slammed their lips together. It only lasted for a few seconds but it didn't matter, the feel of smooth lips against his own was enough. They pulled apart slowly, both panting slightly.

"Thank you," Yuui said shyly.

"Why did you do that?" Kurogane said, covering his mouth, eyes wide with shock.

Another small giggle, the blond tended to do that a lot it seemed. "I don't know," he said, "I've got brain damage, remember?"

Nodding Kurogane just watched as Yuui walked passed him, touching his arm lightly as he did so, and then skip off towards the building.

It wasn't until he could no longer see Yuui that it struck him.

He had just gotten his first kiss.

* * *

><p>AN: Aww, I love the end. Should do as I wrote it. But the fluffy KuroxFai(Yuui)! Anyway I am kind of hoping that the whole name switching bit will be less confusing now, and maybe some of you have figured out what is going on there. Would love to see the ending actually happen, many love to anyone that would like to draw Kurogane giving any Fai(Yuui) a flower, just so cute! (slightly tired, so expect crazy.)

Excuses as to why it is late; I have been feeling very fed up recently, along with some health issues that are not helping at all. However I have doctors soon so hopefully some of it will be sorted out then. Along with doing some writing for various things (things to publish in future mayhap) in between morbidity.

Hope you liked it and please review as I appreciate any input, and to know that someone out there is reading! x


	4. Part Four

**Words**: 3,174

**Warnings**: AU!, angst, fluff, romance, mystery, violence (later on in the story)

**Summary**: At the age of thirteen Kurogane's life changed when his parents died. Without anyone to take care of him there was no choice but to send him to an orphanage, Hallow Home for Orphans, there he met two weird blonde boys. However that was the least of his problems, in the orphanage something strange was going on and, like it or not, Kurogane got himself pulled right into the centre of it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tsubasa or any of the characters involved, they belong to the masterful CLAMP. They also own other characters that are seen and mentioned in the course of this fanfic.

A/N: Managed to make it so there was a chapter this month at least. Sorry have been busy, and other things... anyway. Here is a chapter! The shortest yet but I figured that it was a good place to stop. Plot and explanations ahoy!

* * *

><p>It took quite some time for Kurogane to wrap his head around what had just happened. He had been kissed. By a boy. A boy he barely knew. A boy whose very existence seemed to be focused on annoying him. That was not what he had expected for his first kiss, though he had never actually thought about it. He had always assumed he would like a girl, date her for a while and then kiss her once he felt ready to. Maybe it was a bit later than most boys his age but he didn't care that he was in his teens before experiencing it, not that there was anything that great about it. Sure Yuui's lips had been soft and not overly dry or wet and had felt smooth against his own... but it wasn't anything special. Certainly not something to be treasured or looked on with fondness.<p>

No.

Nothing important.

* * *

><p>The morning was now routine; get up, breakfast, go to school. Try to avoid looking at a certain set of blonds before heading out, of course. And like the rest of the week there was talking and giggling as he walked down the hallways at school. Something he hadn't noticed before was the hateful glares he was receiving from the boys, maybe because the girls were paying him a lot of attention. This made him quite uneasy, it was only a matter of time before the looks turned into someone getting ahead of themselves and trying to fight him, something akin to that had happened at his previous school.<p>

For the first two lessons and all of break he had to deal with the other students acting stupidly around him and what was worse was the fact that he didn't know _why_. Fed up with all the whispering Kurogane confronted Kudo on their way to the next lesson.

"Why is it that everyone treats the orphans like they do?"

"That's obviously because of what the orphanage _is_." From Kurogane's confused, and annoyed, expression Kudo looked at him with mild shock in his eyes. "You don't know?"

At Kurogane's growling Kudo stopped walking, he looked around before grabbing the others wrist and dragging them in the opposite direction. "Let's go to the roof to talk," he said, "I would leave it for Rikuo to tell you but he's as insensitive as they come."

They went up two flights of stairs before reaching a door with various warning signs hanging around it, as well as an alarm trigger attached to it. Kudo let go of his wrist and bent down to lock, he withdrew two paperclips from his pocket and started to pick the lock. With nothing else to do Kurogane just watched the boy, it only took a few minutes before the lock clicked.

"How did you..."

Kudo laughed. "Rikuo taught me how to do it," he explained, "he also cut the power to the alarm system on the door."

"Go up here often do you?"

The blush that spread over the boys cheeks trailing down to his neck. He coughed before gesturing inside and walking through the door.

Kudo leaned against the railing looking out at the town below them. Kurogane took two steps onto the roof then rested his back against the wall.

"So what is going on?" he asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Kudo sighed, not taking his eyes off the landscape he began explaining. "The orphanage isn't what you would call _normal_. All across the country children get sent to this one if they have experienced something that may... damage them... mentally. That is, the children sent to the orphanage are ones that are feared to become _unstable_. A psychiatrist does tests on the children once a fortnight to make sure that they are still able to be allowed out of the premises and not seen as a threat. Nothing really happens but it's all so that the problem cases are in one place."

"Why didn't I know of this?" Kurogane growled. How dare they label him as a _problem case_?

"Probably because they wanted to assess you before they pass judgement. Some only stay for a few weeks before being sent to a different institute as there is no problem with their mental health." Kudo turned around to look at Kurogane, weighing his next words.

"It hasn't always been like this, the fear for the orphans. Three years ago an incident occurred which traumatised the town. A teacher was going to adopt two of his students, he was always kind and generous, and he thought he could give them a better life. In order to prove that they would be okay with him he started to look after them on a temporary basis; that's what they believe changed him. About two months afterwards he walked into his classroom and killed all of the students, shooting them before he hacked them to pieces with an axe, he left the school and did the same to anyone who got in his way. Eventually he was caught but not before sixty-two innocent people died. A fort-night after that incident they found the children he was going to adopt locked in a bomb shelter under his house, tied up in chains against a wall, beaten and half-starved. They had been there for at least a month before being found, maybe longer as no one could remember the last time they had seen them."

A brief pause. "Basically that is the reason people are afraid of the orphans. Everyone thinks that something like that tragedy will happen again if you spend too long with them. That they will turn people insane from their mere presence, it's unfair but you can't change what they believe."

"Stupid," Kurogane huffed, "that man was obviously unstable."

Kudo nodded in agreement. "Yes but try explaining that to a bunch of frightened children who believed in their teacher and lost friends that day. Their world had been shattered and they needed to blame someone."

"Why not you?" Kurogane asked, Kudo looked at him in confusion head tilted to one side eyes wide. "Why aren't you afraid of us?"

"Because I'm an orphan too," he said simply. "No one at school knows about it but me and Kei were taken away from our parents at a young age. We got adopted by Kakei-san and Saiga-san nearly straight away."

"It's been three years since then," Kurogane scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head to look at the town that lay beyond. The stupid, prejudice, town.

"Yeah," Kudo shrugged, "I don't understand it either."

Silence reigned over them.

The door to the roof suddenly burst open after long minutes.

There stood Himura, panting slightly, he strode over to Kudo and grabbed the boys face in one hand, staring at him intensely.

"What are you doing?" Kudo protested. "Let me go!"

Himura said something that Kurogane couldn't hear which made the others eyes soften. After a few seconds the two kissed softly, Kudo's arms going around Himura's broad shoulders.

Feeling sufficiently awkward Kurogane pushed off the wall and walked out the door, not wanting to see anymore of their kissing, he made sure to slam the door after himself.

That mushy scene only served to remind him of his own kiss.

Stupid blond stealing his first kiss.

* * *

><p>Kurogane didn't know why he thought otherwise but he was surprised to find a blond standing in the middle of the entryway to the orphanage. It was a full hour before school was set to finish and he had skipped the end of it as he had a powerful urge to punch all the idiotic children in the face. He doubted that would be appreciated at school.<p>

Anyway he wound up face to face with someone who he really did not want to see at that particular time, especially as thoughts of the kiss would not leave his head. Not that it was important or anything, just annoying.

The blond standing in front of him smiled and ran at him, arms open wide. He practically threw himself at Kurogane, making the taller boy stumble back a few steps.

"Kuro-wan I didn't expect to see you back so early, are you being a naughty boy again?" he laughed happily, right next to Kurogane ear.

Strong hands tried to pry the blond off of him but he was holding on tightly making it impossible.

"Yuui!" A voice basically screamed.

Looking up Kurogane saw the second blond boy standing at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him. He was reminded of the phrase, 'if looks could kill.'

Motosuwa walked down the steps to take a hold of his twin, who reluctantly let go of Kurogane when his arm was pulled. Yuui continued to smile at Kurogane, seeming to not notice the way Motosuwa was staring at them both angrily.

"Come on Yuui," Motosuwa said, tugging on the arm he held to drag Yuui away from Kurogane.

"You have a private lesson," Yuui argued back, confusion written on his face.

"I want you there," was the tense response.

"But..." immediately he was pulled close to the other who whispered something in his ear that made Yuui's already pale skin turn snow white. "I'll see you later Kuro-pi," he said slowly looking at Kurogane sadly.

As the boy was hauled through a door Kurogane could have sworn that he saw fear cross his face, whilst pleading eyes bore into him. He tried to ignore it, if the boy was truly afraid and wanting his help then he'd had a lot of previous opportunities to say so.

Sighing he went to his room to wait out the rest of the day.

* * *

><p>Unable to sleep Kurogane got up from his bed. His brain just couldn't relax so he made his way out of the room.<p>

Like the last time he hadn't slept during the night there was a blond on the landing, back to the railing, knees pulled up, however there was something resting on his legs. A book.

Kurogane walked over to the boy who raised his eyes, smiling at him brightly.

"We should really stop meeting like this Kuro-chan," he said, his voice sad so unlike his smile.

Sitting down Kurogane leant against the wall.

Minutes of silence passed between them, Yuui went back to reading his book. From the angle he was sat he could that there were brightly coloured images all over the page. It was a picture book.

He could see the sadness in the blond's eyes but not the desperation that had shown through not too long ago, Yuui didn't speak about it either, so Kurogane put it to the back of his mind. Or tried too. Thoughts about the boy just continued cropping up anyway, not matter how much he didn't want them too. Between the kiss and the pleading look he had no chance.

Sighing he lent forward, opening his mouth wanting to say something.

"My mother used to read this to me, before..." Yuui spoke before Kurogane could, not even looking up from his book, his small voice soft. "... well, before we came here. She would tuck brother and I into bed then sit between us and read it to us every night. Brother never stayed awake long enough to hear it all, but I always listened until the end." He ran a pale hand over the page that was open.

Intrigued despite himself Kurogane leant over to take a better look at the picture book. There was an oddly shaped pinky-puple creature with long ears surrounded by buildings at night. Kurogane had never particularly liked picture books and he remembered why now, nothing portrayed ever seemed real, plus everything in them was rather obscure. He just didn't _get_ it.

"What is it about?" He asked.

Yuui smiled slightly. "A city with no people."

"Huh?"

Shaking his head Yuui laughed, staring up at the baffled look on Kurogane's face. He sobered up quickly, the same sad expression returning. "Do you think that there is one person in the whole world for you?"

"What are you on about?" Kurogane replied. "What has that got to do with anything?"

Yuui went back to book, flicking through the pages before stopping on one. "'I hope that I will meet someone. Someone just for me. But if that special someone falls in love with me... I will have to leave that someone."

After a pause Kurogane huffed. "That is stupid," he growled, "and it makes no sense. Are you sure this is a kids book?"

This time Yuui laughed properly, eyes shining with mirth and a small genuine smile. "I guessed you would say something like that. But still," he sighed longingly, "a special someone just for you does sound nice."

"But if they love you back why would leave the person," Kurogane argued, "the very idea is idiotic."

Yuui's eyes sparkled, bright blue in the dimness of night. "Maybe you would know if you read the whole story."

"Whatever the reason it wouldn't be good enough to leave someone special."

"You're taking this rather seriously," Yuui said, leaning over his book to peer up at Kurogane. "It's only a book."

"Obviously it's teaching you bad things," Kurogane retorted. "If you go around with stupid ideas from that book you'll turn into even more of an idiot."

Sighing Yuui closed his eyes and leant against the banister heavily. "Maybe," he said softly, "but it's probably not a bad thing."

"What?"

"If I do ever fall in love with someone..." he opened his eyes slightly so only a small line of blue could be seen, looking down at the ground. "...If they loved me back, they would be in danger. It would be better if I leave that special someone."

Silence overtook them as Kurogane looked at the blond; he didn't know what to say to that, he couldn't think of anything comforting.

"You should make sure to fall in love with someone who could protect themselves then," he tried lamely. Yuui's eyes shot up to stare at him, as though shocked to find him still there. "Leaving someone who you love and who loves you in return is still stupid; even if danger is involved it is no excuse to run away."

Quickly Yuui shot towards him; he grabbed a handful of black hair to bring Kurogane towards him, their faces inches apart. Kurogane could feel the others breath on his face, a sweet smell radiating from Yuui's body, the dazzling blue eyes staring at him. He didn't know what to do, for what seemed like hours, but was only seconds; they were like that, faces close but not touching.

"No one would be able to cope with how much pain they would go through by just being near me," Yuui whispered, the small sound barely audible.

"You don't give people enough credit," Kurogane returned, his voice going low as well. He felt a shiver go through Yuui's body and instinctively reached out to steady him, placing a strong hand on the boy's side.

Kurogane didn't know what drove him to it, there wasn't a logical part of his brain that prodded him towards such actions but something made him lean forwards. This led to his lips connecting with those of Yuui; the softness was back as they kissed gently.

Seconds later they pulled apart, Kurogane looked over at Yuui who had a small real smile playing on his lips. He opened his mouth to say something however as he did so a scream of terror interrupted.

In an instant Kurogane shot up, dislodging Yuui's arms from him.

It had sounded like it came from below.

"Come on," he said to Yuui, making his way towards the stairs.

"That's probably not a good idea," Yuui said, his voice wavering.

Kurogane whipped around to look, Yuui was sitting staring at the ground again, he was getting irritated at the sadness the boy was exuding. He marched forwards and grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him up. Another scream rang through the building. Quickly Kurogane pulled Yuui along in the direction the sound was coming from, there was a door to the left of the main one which he thought should be the origin. Whilst going through the whole building he had investigated that area but all he had found was a long corridor with a locked door at the end.

Behind him he heard Yuui gasp as he opened the door to run down the hallway. The boy was not resisting and he was starting to get the idea that he would not fight back against anything. That worried Kurogane, but he had more on his mind than trying to sort out Yuui's issues.

Another weak cry for help reached his ears, this time much quieter.

When he reached the end of the corridor he grasped the door handle, unlike last time it turned and he began to push it open.

"You can't!" Yuui yelled, he wrenched harshly on Kurogane's arm. He was surprisingly strong, causing Kurogane to stumble back, he was still holding the handle making the door slam when he was pulled.

"What the hell?" Kurogane growled at him, swinging around.

Yuui took a step away from him, eyes darting to the side. "It's scary down there, you can't go."

"Stop lying," he retorted.

He tried to open the door again but Yuui pulled on his arm harder to get him away from it. It happened again and again.

Growling Kurogane tried to shake the boy off him but it didn't work. Thin pale hands clutched onto him tightly, sure to leave bruises.

Looking closely at his face Kurogane saw desperation and fear painted across the delicate features, so intense it made him hold his breath in shock.

"Tell me what's going on," Kurogane said, trying to make his voice gentle so as to not scare the boy anymore.

The other only shook his head. A small tear trickled out of the corner of his left eye.

"...can't..." was chocked out.

Kurogane lifted up his hand and wiped away the single tear, brushing his fingers against soft pale skin. He then took Yuui's hand on his arm, placing his own over it, the boy was in so much shock from the gentle touch that he let go of Kurogane.

"I'm going in," he said, letting go of the hand in his.

Yuui shook his head again. "Don't."

Sighing Kurogane turned his back to the boy, he had not heard another scream down there but he was certain that it had the source of the noise. Added to the fact that he could now investigate the previously locked room, it was the perfect reason to go through the door. He reached out his hand to open the door when he heard movement behind him.

"I'm so sorry Kurogane," was whispered before pain shot through his body.

He could feel his body falling as his world turned to black.

* * *

><p>AN: Kurogane is such a cynical little boy, tut tut he doesn't even like 'A City With No People'. Thought he might react like that he ever read it, can't imagine him being very impressed with it.

Here's a cliffie to enjoy!

I have passed university and have a BA(Hons) in Writing Contemporary Fiction and next year I will be doing an MA (master of art) degree in Creative Writing: Industry and Practice. Was kind of busy worrying about my grade and if I had gotten into next year most of this month so a bit of the reason this wasn't done faster. Sorry.

Btw, how much violence is acceptable until it becomes an M? Is there anyone here who would stop reading if the rating went up? (if so please say so, just leave a little comment of 'No M' or something)

Please review! (I like to know that someone is out there)


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